Stating the Obvious
by rasadam
Summary: Post Hogwarts. Ron pushes Harry into going on a date. Why does it bother his other best friend so much?


** Disclaimer : I do not own these characters, just borrowed them for a little bit.**

Author Note : My first attempt at Fanfaction, I'm a better reader than a writer. This will be a smutty fluffy fic. No beta used, so all grammar and spelling mistakes are mine, sorry.

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Today started out innocently enough in the life of Harry Potter. Life as the Boy-Who-Lived, Conqueror of Voldermort and Escaper-of-Near-Death-Situations-by-Strokes-of-Luck (Or whatever it was those hypocritical writers at the Daily Prophet titled me these days) couldn't have been more peaceful in my nineteen years in this world. I was spending the day relaxing in my muggle flat, enjoying the magical display that people call reality TV (I really thought it were magic the way so many people watched bad actors, but alas I became addicted too). That was until a series of events turned my life upside down. Not surprisingly, it all happened when a certain over sized red headed oaf that I called my best friend decided to spare a visit.

_pop ... crash_

"Hey Mate", I said without bothering to look up. Some things simply never change, one of them being Ronald Weasely still couldn't appararate into my apartment without crashing into one object or the other.

"Seriously Mate, you need to stop redecorating every week!" my red faced friend exclaimed, while obviously checking to make sure his body was still intact. Honestly I thought perhaps he spinched part of brains during initial practice, though somehow I doubted it considering how much of an idiot he was before he turned sixteen. Sometimes I wondered why the sorting hat hadn't considered Hufflepuff.

I chuckled inwardly and muttered a _Reparo_ with my hands pointing to the poor coffee table that suffered Weasely shrapnel damage.

"Oh yeah woo hoo I'm Harry Potter, I can do wandless magic, oh look at me! Git!" he said in a playful tone.

I laughed, Ron always got jealous when I did it in front of him. Hey, I couldn't help that I just needed to rub it in a little bit. "You know, you should really get in the habit of using the door every now and then. What if I had _company_?"

He snorted, "Uh huh. But I'm glad you mentioned that, that's why I'm here!"

"The answer is No, whoever she is"

"Aye! Hear me out! Seriously, you really need to take advantage of this savior of the world thing every once in a while"

"You seem to do a decent job on my behalf"

He smirked, "Yeah well, I've earned my right having to put up with you for eight years. Anyway, I met this chick after the quidditch match last night, seemed interesting enough-"

By interesting enough, Ron usually meant she had big boobs.

"So we got talking. Of course, she started trying to move on me so I had to let her down easily... just wasn't my type. But I told her I knew a guy, although less charming and sexy, that might be interested. Harry, she's completely your type!"

"What exactly is my type?"

"Well, when I first saw her, she looked like she was crying a bit", he said with a grin.

Seriously, why am I still friends with this guy? Obviously a Cho Chang reference, especially seeing as she has been the extent of my dating history, if you can call it that. "I really do hate you", I hissed.

"Come on! It'll be fun. It's not like you have anything better to do anyway."

So he might have a point there. But really, I hated dating. Ah who am I kidding, I hated going out in public. It usually ends up being a publicity tour each time. That said, I have been shooting down this bloke's (ill-conceived) ideas for the past few months, I probably should appease him once in a while before he tried something drastic (stupid and drastic is not a good combination).

"Fine fine, I'll go. This will likely be another disaster, just know that I'm only doing this to get you off my back."

"Excellent!", he grinned. That grin said absolutely nothing about some selfless act for a friend. "I'll meet you at Lavendar's new restaurant at eight o'clock!"

With another Pop, he was gone. Lavendar's?! I should have known there would be something in it for him.

--

So here I was, outside this new upscale restaurant in Diagon Alley. To be honest, I was a little nervous, this whole "dating" thing just never suited me well. Perhaps it had something to do with being abused for eleven years and odd months of my life or the fact that everyone near me got killed off one way or the other, I just wasn't built for it.

Evil Wizards? Harry James Potter at your service!

Female (also evil) Wizards? Uhm I'll take a rain check.

Anyway here I am on another of Ron's bright (HAH!) ideas, twitching nervously in anticipation. Honestly, I wasn't going to expect much. Based on experiences from all the post-Voldermort parties and Ministry events that I was forced to attend over the past two years, I'd probably end the night with arthritis from signing autographs. As much as I didn't mind the free quidditch tickets every now and then or getting some preferential treatment in crowded establishments, I really longed to be able to enjoy a date not based on my fame.

And not related at all, my mind wondered to my other best friend. I wonder what she's up to right now. Good ole' Hermione, after the war she shockingly went into the field of research, and is doing all sorts of probably ground breaking things with some Wizard book publishing firm. I did try to understand sometimes, but honestly, her brains are leagues ahead of me. I'm supportive though, it helped having the smartest witch in a century as your best friend when you're fighting an evil madman and his fan club. That really isn't why I love her (as a friend, of course), she keeps me in check. Merlin knows what would happen to me if she weren't taking care of me.

And on that thought, a flash of panic ran through me. I hope I don't see her tonight! Why you ask? Well, she sort of has this "thing" where she doesn't really like me going out on dates. She gets really really irritated when Ron comes up with his ideas to get me out on dates (hmm why exactly did I agree to this). At first, I thought it was just being irritated at Ron, since you know her tolerance for idiocy is much lower than mine. But after a while I realized she simply doesn't like me dating. I haven't quite figured out why, but she's infinitely smarter than me so I trust her judgment. I honestly don't mind, so what one of my hands gets a little extra exercise every now and then (fine fine maybe a lot), but hey I'm content with my life. And to reciprocate, I don't like her going out on dates either, she knows that too. Just two best friends looking out for each other, right? Yes, best to get off this dangerous line of thought as I see my other best friend strutting up the path towards me.

"Harry" he greeted me a little pompously, probably something to do with walking down Diagon Alley flanked by two witches. "You know Rose", he nodded to the witch on his left.

I put the good-to-see-you-again smile on my face. In truth, I really didn't remember her. It's a bit hard keeping up with Ron's very dynamic love life.

"And this is Samantha, you know the one who you were so nervous to meet after I told you about her last night" he said teasingly at me.

Remember when Hermione said Ron had the emotional range of a teaspoon? Bless that girl, couldn't have said it better myself. I shot him a quick glare before extending a friendly handshake to my "date".

"Oh God... Ha- Harry Potter. It's such a pleasure to meet you!"

I sighed inwardly, star struck it is, I hate you Ron. Think he'd notice a wandless Avada directed at himself right now?

As we headed into the restaurant, my mind started to run over all sorts of methods of ending this night early. As soon as I got inside, I knew I'd regret doing this more than ever. Low and behold, there was Hermione sitting on a table with one of her (female) work friends. Shit! I casually sidestepped to the right of my Date to hide myself from view in case she turned this way, at least she was a good human shield. My mind raced, I absolutely could not let her see me here on a date. I just knew she'd kill me. Remember what I said earlier about her getting irritated about me dating? Well, perhaps irritated is a bit of an understatement. She gets really really angry, and Hermione Granger angry is something you do not want to be on the receiving end of.

Ron was busy arranging us a table, I prayed we'd get seated as far away from her as possible. But knowing my name was Harry Potter, it wasn't surprising when Ron motioned me to follow him in Hermione's direction to a vacant table right next to hers.

"Hermione!", I heard Ron say "Fancy seeing you here"

"Hi Ron. I see you came with extra _company_ tonight" came Hermione's voice. I inwardly laughed, despite the situation. She obviously thought both girls were Ron's (Seeing as I was semi crouched behind Samantha to block myself from view) and I could detect the cynicism in her voice. She never approved of how quickly Ron went through women and didn't hide her disdain for it in front of them. Then it dawned on me that Hermione still hadn't seen me and I considered my options of making a quick exit. _Accio Firebolt_ worked in fourth year...

"Hah", I heard Ron's chuckle "That ones Harry's"

Fuck. Hey Voldermort, mind a sequel? I prayed for a distraction to burst into the room.

I came out from my hiding spot and very nervously lifted my head for my eyes to meet Hermione's. The look on her face was incredible. Hermione and I had developed a way to convey our emotions via the blinking of our eyes, or lack of in this case. Hermione was looking at me, and at that moment I knew how rightly pissed off she was and how much of a really horrible idea this was. She extended her stare to the witch in front of me. You didn't need to be best friends to detect a hostile target, I imagined.

Suddenly I thought the ground was very interesting, I couldn't bare to look at Hermione again. Actually I was really scared, I was expecting a deserved hex any second now. Ron, oblivious to the can of worms he just opened, merrily proceeded to settle his date and himself in. I think at that point Samantha was expecting me to be a gentleman and guide her towards her seat, but I wasn't that stupid enough to extend any form of courtesy with _She Who Must Not Named_ being mere feet from me.

I started to plan my escape. Hmm could the "My scar is burning" routine still work with Voldermort dead? I also actually wondered for a second if Hermione was really a boggart, because I'm pretty sure that would've been the manifestation in this current situation. Then again, Ron did speak to her, so doing anything would be a bit _ridiculous_. My mind was racing, which if you know me means that coming up with a plan was beyond me at the present time.

"So Harry", I heard my date say from a distance "What's it like saving the world?"

I cringed. I was sort of expecting this sort of daft question from the vibe I was getting from this girl. But more so, I cringed because I knew Hermione heard and I knew exactly what sort of reaction it would bring.

My suspicion was confirmed in a few seconds when I heard Hermione's angry voice from the other table, "Do you think it was some sort of fucking game? How dare you ask Harry that!"

"Excuse me, I don't see you being part of this conversation", Samantha hissed.

"_Anything_ that involves that messy haired insensitive git across there involves me", Hermione retorted.

Now, most guys in my situation would be thrilled in having two women fighting over them. But what Hermione just said struck something in me. I didn't for one second question Hermione's right to be pissed at me, or her claim on being involved in anything in my life, other witches included. But this brought the question, why wasn't I questioning it? As my mind got occupied again, I got lost in the now shouting match between these two women, but a change in Hermione's body language caught my eye. I've seen that stance before, many times in fact, especially when we were surrounded by Death Eaters. Hermione was about to hex the bejezus out of someone.

I had to act. Deftly, I muttered a paralyzing charming in Hermione's direction, leaving her fixed in her seat. I stood quickly, threw a glare at Ron (Whom had his mouth gaping open). Ron and I also had the ability to communicate with facial expressions, my glare told him I'm taking care of Hermione, this one was his mess. I stepped over to Hermione's seat, grasped her frozen arm and apparated us to my flat.

--

I could not describe the emotions running wildly throughout my body. First though, I had to tend to a very dangerous witch in my arm. As I emerged in my flat, I gently eased Hermione onto the couch below me. Ensuring myself enough distance in case the aforementioned witch decided to resort to more muggle methods of reminding me what an idiot I was, I safely retreated to the other couch across from her. I muttered the counter charm over her while holding my breath.

At first, I thought I didn't successfully cast it. But slowly I saw some of the tension relax in her body. I didn't quite know what to say. The situation had been kind of surreal. Should I be sorry for going on the date? For not telling her? Why should I have to tell her? Why couldn't I go on a date... even though I didn't even want to. But one thing I learned well from being in a co-ed boarding school during my teenage years is, when in doubt, always apologize.

"I'm sorry" escaped from my mouth. It was the truth, I was sorry, just not too sure why. As I mentioned earlier, Hermione is without a doubt the smartest creature I know. But she shares a fault of mine, when it comes to emotions, she's as clueless as me.

I tried to read her expression, and all I could interpret was confusion. I sort of set myself on the quidditch pitch, with Hermione being the rogue bludger. My body prepared itself to wake up in the hospital wing next morning. Reality was playing out differently, Hermione still had this indescribable expression, a mixture of confusion and deep thought.

"Why are you sorry?", she barely whispered.

Good question. I couldn't help but be honest, "I don't know".

She nodded, glad to know she understood what I meant, because I certainly didn't! Something plagued my mind though, it took some courage to escape my mouth because I feared the answer, "Why did you react so strongly?"

Her expression remained unchanged and her delayed answer wasn't surprising, "I don't know".

Glad we were getting somewhere. Well at least we were on the same wave length, I guess. I was so confused at this point, something definitely happened tonight. I knew the answer was within me somewhere, but maybe it was too afraid to reach the surface, which is sort of surprising considering how shallow my brain was. One thing I was sure of though, her protectiveness over me, regardless of motives gave me a warm feeling inside. I needed to let her know that.

"I should probably get going", she said as she stood up.

I nodded and rose to my feet, the warm feeling now tingled in my stomach as my legs decided to walk towards her on my own. Now, I've never really been a touchy person, years of physical and emotional abuse may have a little to do with that. But I found my arms wrapped around her in a tight hug, possibly the first time I can remember initiating a hug on anyone. It was the most glorious thing ever. Maybe it was just a hug, but I was able to tell her right there how much she meant to me, and the warm feeling of her body pressed against mine made me light headed. Both our hands were tenderly rubbing each others' backs, in much more than a best friends way, but I didn't care the moment. It just felt right.

I gazed into her eyes, there was a look of contentment there. She smiled at me, tiptoed and gave me a gentle kiss on my cheek before apparating out of sight. I knew I wasn't getting any sleep tonight.


End file.
